


Together

by Forthediehards



Series: Pacemaker AU [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Another entry in my silly pacemaker AU, Cardiophilia, In which Green is very very difficult, M/M, and Red is defiant and persistent, and it works in both of their favors, oh and heartbeats of course
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-04
Updated: 2016-09-04
Packaged: 2018-08-12 21:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7950160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Forthediehards/pseuds/Forthediehards
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the beginning, he knew that this process was going to wear him thin. The doctors told him that his entire existence was about to change. Suddenly there were rules and regulations slapped onto his life like bright yellow caution signs in the middle of an empty highway. “Limit activity, don’t overwork yourself, make sure you stay in tune with your pacemaker, don’t go near areas with high levels of electricity, stay away from dangerous cellular and micro-waves…” and the list went on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Together

**Author's Note:**

> Hello again! This is another entry in my Pacemaker AU - for those who haven't read the first one - Green had a small accident that is described very briefly later on in this particular work. The short of it: he has a pacemaker after going through a bad accident. Hope that keeps things on track for you!

Green hated it. He absolutely detested it.

From the beginning, he knew that this process was going to wear him thin. The doctors told him that his entire existence was about to change. Suddenly there were rules and regulations slapped onto his life like bright yellow caution signs in the middle of an empty highway. “Limit activity, don’t overwork yourself, make sure you stay in tune with your pacemaker, don’t go near areas with high levels of electricity, stay away from dangerous cellular and micro-waves…” and the list went on.

To Green, all it sounded like was a bunch of “can’ts” and “don’ts,” as if he really needed more of those in his life.

What they didn’t tell him, however, was just how uncomfortable the device would be against his ribs. It was a fairly slim piece of metal, but sitting in his chest just below his collarbone, it felt light a heavy weight. He could see his skin protruding where the device lay, and when he ran his fingers across it, he wanted to throw up.

To think that something like this was connected to his heart, forcing it to beat in a more steady and uniform rhythm – was terrifying. Not that he would ever admit to it, because that would be admitting weakness and Green wasn’t weak.

Or at least, that’s what he liked to tell himself.

His fingers trailed down from the metal plate in his chest back to where flesh met the bone of his ribcage. Here, he could feel his heartbeat just like he had always been able to. It was slightly elevated, likely due to his heightened emotions, but otherwise it beat in a weak, robotic way. They told him the device wouldn’t take control of his heart unless it was necessary, but to Green, he felt as if a huge mechanical hand was inside his chest, squeezing his heart tirelessly again and again at it’s will. His heart was like a prisoner in it’s own body, and Green hated it.

He briefly wondered what his heart sounded like now. The logical part of his brain knew it was likely the same, but the curious, darker part questioned if it even sounded like a human heart anymore, or more like a machine.

“You’ll get used to it in time.” They told him, and Green thought it was a load of bullsh–

“Hey, Green–”

An involuntary, startled gasp escaped the boy in question as he scrambled in his bed to turn around and look towards the doorway. Swallowing thickly, he reached instinctively for his pokeballs, until he realized that he left them on his desk across the room.

His heart gave a painful thud in his chest as the pacemaker kicked in, attempting to slow the rhythm down from the frantic pace it so suddenly developed.

“Oh, I’m – I didn’t mean to scare you.” It was only Red. Green could recognize that voice anywhere, and subtle annoyance settled into his brain both for allowing himself to be shocked, and for showcasing that shock in front of his best friend.

“What do you want, Red?”

Green met Red’s gaze with a bit of a scowl, and if he didn’t know better, he would say that Red looked something like a kicked puppy. Letting out a sigh, Green scooted over on his bed and patted the empty space beside him for Red to fill.

“I really didn’t mean to scare you. The professor called up to you before I came in. I thought you knew..”

“Look, it’s fine. Whatever. What do you need?” Green asked once more, trying so desperately to steer them away from small talk and land directly onto the point. He was not feeling particularly social at the moment, and he expected Red would understand that.

“Oh, I…uh…” It was unlike Red to stumble over his words like that, and so Green decided for perhaps just that moment, he would stop being so difficult. He sighed and rested his head back against the wall, unsurprised when Red followed his lead and did exactly the same. “Just wanted to check in.”

Green should have been expecting that. Everyone wanted to check in on him - his grandfather, Daisy, even Red’s mother had stopped by to make sure he was doing okay. He was being treated like some kind of weakling, and that didn’t sit well with him (mostly because he knew it was true, now).

“Well as you can see, I’m alive and kicking.” He spit back, making sure the displeasure in his voice was not only audible, but palpable. He did not need or want Red’s concern, no matter how desperately the boy seemed to want to give it.

“Right. But are you okay?” Red persisted further, and the glare that Green shot in his direction was one that caused goosebumps to rise up on his skin. Was he okay? What kind of question was that?

“Perfectly fine, Red. Never better, in fact. I have a huge machine in my chest - hooked directly into my heart, mind you - and that machine is the entire reason I’m even alive right now. Oh, and did I forget to mention that it’s uncomfortable? Painful? Yeah, I’m having a really great time right now but thanks for asking.”

Red reeled back as though Green had struck him, and for a horrifying moment he thought perhaps he did, but his hands were tightly wringing the sheets of his bed as means of controlling anxiety. Anxiety that was, at the moment, causing his heart to beat faster and faster and faster. Green knew what was about to come, and he held his breath as he waited for the pacemaker to kick in.

A wince, followed by a sharp exhale of breath was the only evidence Green was going to offer to show his discomfort. When the pacemaker kicked in, it felt like fingers taking hold of his heart and squeezing with enough pressure to knock it out of whatever irregular rhythm it was trying to beat in. His chest fluttered uncomfortably and for just a moment, breathing became a chore. He hadn’t even noticed that Red had scooted closer to him until he felt a hand rest against his chest.

“It’s alright, Green. Just breathe.”

“Stop, don’t touch it!” Green gave Red’s shoulder a hard shove, harder than he intended it to be, and backed himself up on his bed until he was in the corner. Weakness. This was weakness he was showcasing to Red. He had to remedy this situation immediately. “Get out.”

“I’m not leaving,” Red shot back defiantly, crawling over to Green and sitting down cross-legged in front of him so he couldn’t flee. “Breathe.”

Breathe? How was he supposed to breathe with Red crowding him like this? The only time he could breathe comfortably was when he was alone - when he allowed himself to feel pain and submit to his weaknesses. Having Red here in the middle of what felt like some sort of mental breakdown wasn’t going to end well, likely for either of them.

“I can’t –”

“Yes you can. Breathe.”

Red’s hand found its way back to Green’s chest, rubbing small circles to the skin directly beneath the pacemaker. Green wanted to protest again, tell Red to stop touching him for the second time…

But this felt oddly satisfying. Any contact with the device itself was typically painful but if Red could keep his contact restricted to just Green’s lower chest, it was easier to swallow.

As asked of him, Green calmly sucked in a deep breath, making sure to fill his lungs until they simply wouldn’t fill anymore, and then letting it out nice and slow. He hadn’t been anticipating it to help, but for some reason or another, it took the edge off of his anxiety almost immediately. When Green looked up, Red was smiling softly at him and involuntarily, he smiled back.

“There, see? I told you.” Red boasted, and while it was odd to be praised by the other boy, Green found himself enjoying the feeling it created. His heart rate had slowed down and overall he felt less angry than he had only moments ago. Strange how Red seemed to have that effect on him.

“Yeah, whatever. I was totally fine to begin with.” Green snapped back, but there wasn’t a hint of true malice in his words. Whatever he said caused Red to smile even brighter, so Green sunk down into his mattress and let out a sigh. “So, you said you wanted to check up on me, and as you can clearly see, I’m doing fine. Maybe you should get goi–”

Green paused the moment he felt Red’s ear press down against his chest. He lifted his head off of the pillow and shot an incredulous look at his friend, which went completely unnoticed. Red settled himself down against Green’s chest like he belonged there, and his eyes fell shut with a faint fluttering of his eyelashes.

“Red, you -”

“Shh, I’m listening.”

Green pressed his lips together as he tried to work through the confusion. Why was Red acting like this? Was he afraid that Green was going to just pass out and die again? Not likely. That had only been pure accident - a stray electric attack from a Jolteon meant not for Green, but for another Pokemon. As far as Green could tell, all of their Pokemon were currently not present so the likelihood of an encore was slim to none.

So then what was it?

And what exactly could Red hear?

Did the pacemaker produce an audible sound? Was it mechanical? Or maybe it didn’t sound like anything at all. Maybe Red just heard the same sound that resonated within everyone’s chest - a normal, functioning heartbeat. Green would most likely never know, since he hadn’t the desire to find out for himself what his own heart sounded like. Sure, in the past it may have been cool, but after everything that had happened, Green was certain it would only make him sick.

He swallowed thickly and parted his lips to speak.

“What, uh… Does it sound robotic, or…?” Graceful as ever, Green knew the question sounded dumb the moment it came out and he ended up finishing the sentence by clearing his throat a bit awkwardly. However, Red didn’t seem to find it nearly as embarrassing as Green did. He merely popped his head up a bit and chuckled under his breath.

“Robotic? You’re not a machine.” He replied with a grin, tapping his finger against Green’s sternum. “Don’t worry, it’s not as bad as you’re making it out to be. It sounds just like a normal heartbeat, because that’s what it is.”

Green hummed thoughtfully, relaxing against the pillow and scolding himself for being such an idiot. Of course it sounded normal, why would it sound any different?

“Yeah, I knew that. I was only teasing.”

To that, Red quirked an eyebrow and sat himself straight up on the mattress, shifting Green around out of his very comfortable position. It took a moment, but Green turned his head to the side and met Red’s gaze from his angle down against the pillow.

“Didn’t they tell you how the pacemaker worked when they put it in? It’s just two little wires that connect to that metal device on one end and your heart on the other. That’s it. It’s not like you have this huge machine wrapped around your heart or something.” Red explained, and his tone had shifted quite dramatically to something more serious and concerned.

Green wanted to be angry with him, to yell and scream and push him away again, but something stuck out to him that seemed to make all of that unprecedented anger disappear. It was clear that Green himself hadn’t been paying attention at the consult before the surgery, but Red…

Red had listened to every detail intently. He knew more about this cursed device than Green, the one who was actually wearing it - and that was….touching, to say the least.

“Yeah, Red, I knew that.” What a lie, and Red could probably pick up on that just by Green’s tone of voice alone. He sounded almost like a kicked puppy, so meek and small and scared. “But you’ll never understand because it didn’t happen to you.”

“But I want to understand.” Red countered immediately, bravely reaching out and trailing his finger tips along the expanse of the elevated skin beneath Green’s collarbone. There was a sharp intake of breath, but otherwise Green allowed the contact because he was getting so damn tired of fighting it. He felt so worn down, completely eroded to the bone and naked in front of Red.

But his heart skipped beneath the feather light touch, and the look on Red’s face indicated that he felt it as it happened.

“You don’t have to do it alone. Let me help you through it, Green. We can move forward together.”

It took Green nearly an entire minute to formulate an appropriate response to that statement. While the sentiment was overwhelming, Green still felt a dire urge inside of him to walk this path alone. Why? Mostly because he wasn’t prepared to let Red in as far as he wanted to go. Opening up to people was hard and incredibly pointless, plus it was a burden for them to carry the weight of problems they wouldn’t otherwise have to deal with. Red had a bright and exciting future ahead of him, and the last thing he needed to do was to stay back and hold Green’s hand through this long recovery period.

And yet, Green was just selfish and hopeless enough not to want him to go.

“Together?” He asked softly, looking for one final confirmation that Red intended to stay put with him for the time being, and that he wouldn’t be cast off and left alone because he was “damaged goods” now.

Red smiled and leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to the center of the pacemaker, and Green gasped softly at the unexpected affection. There was a pause as Red scooted closer to Green, lacing their fingers together in a tight grip.

“Together, I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, thanks for taking a look! Glad you made it all the way to the end. I hope you enjoyed it :D


End file.
